The Silver Spoon Syndrome

I haven’t written anything personal in a while, but I came across something that I believes warrants a look. An individual on Facebook, who shall remain nameless, had this to say:

“The Food Stamp Program, administered by the U. S. Department of Agriculture, is proud to be distributing this year, the greatest amount of free Meals and Food Stamps ever, to 46 million people.

Meanwhile, the National Park Service, administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior, asks us “Please Do Not Feed the Animals”. Their stated reason for the policy is because “The animals will grow dependent on handouts and will not learn to take care of themselves.”

This ends today’s lesson in irony.”

And that Charlie Brown, is the true meaning of Christmas.

Let’s analyze this for a minute, shall we?

According to this statement, we should stop providing assistance to people because they simply should learn to do better. Is this accurate?

Now, what about those who have disabilities? My son, who has ADHD, did not ask for his condition. He requires regular medical treatment and medication, and despite my average salary, I simply don’t have the money to pay thousands of dollars in medical bills every month. I have to wonder, will the people who make and agree with these comments, be willing to come to my house and tell my son to his face that he doesn’t deserve the help because their family is better off than his?

What about those that have worked for fifteen years at the same company and get laid off due to cuts? Is the system not in place to help hard-working people get back on their feet? Do those people deserve to be cut off from assistance because some rich jerk has millions in his bank account and can afford not to work?

Despite popular belief, we all don’t have these growing in our back yard.

Yes, there are plenty of people that milk the system. Then again, there are hard-working people out there that deserve the help. It isn’t fair to lump those forty-six million people into one category. Unless you are willing to put your checkbook where your mouth is, those with “silver spoon syndrome” should keep comments like these to themselves.